By John Garcia - Officials hope the international athletes running in the Chicago Marathon this weekend will help the city gain support for the U.S. bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
As the 40,000 runners pass under the Randolph Street Bridge on Columbus Avenue, they'll see a pitch for the city's bid to host the games. "This is a place that really has a passion for sports and a place that deserves the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games," said Mike Segobiano, city marketing director. Three quarters of the runners are from outside the state and 7,500 of them from out of the country. Besides the runners, the event draws an estimated million and a half spectators and requires the city to coordinate dozens of street closures and deal with major transportation issues. Therefore, city officials said the Marathon poses many of the same challenges as hosting the 2016 Summer Games.
Marathon Director Carey Pinkowski is a strong advocate in the city's Olympic bid.
"There's no department in the city that's not affected by this that we don't interact with. So the overlay really transcends what could be done at the Olympics," said Pinkowski.
The marathon is also hosting Olympic athletes from around the world, many of whom were at a rally Thursday night at Nike Town. Their feedback is very important.
"Chicago is a beautiful town. They have everything for the Olympics," said Constantina Tomescue Dita, Romanian Olympian. Most of the out-of-town runners brought friends and family to cheer them on. The visitors are shopping at the expo, staying at hotels and eating at Chicago restaurants. The city hopes they not only have a good time, but that they go back home and talk about it. John Garcia will be running in the race. You can read about his preparations and racing experiences on his racing blog, www.runningnewsguy.abc7chicago.com.
Photo #1: Runners started the Marathon running under a Chicago 2016 banner
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